The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-06-11

= iooe 10 uidMu lTOm tle StlTEup, anu edcf
Il man stands up and leads away his horse
n while two other guardsmen come out t.
y take their places in the little houses, and
stand motionlcss for time.
It Continuing on our course, we find thai
: Whitehall is changed to Parliament street
!, and leads us to Westminster Abbey and
: the splendid Houses of Parliament, on the
s river bank We all have heard so much
f of Westminster Abbey, that grand old
l burialplaoe of Englishmen of fame, that it
D will scarcely strike us as entirely novel;
!: but doubt if any of us have formed an
4 idea of the lofty beauty of lis pillars and
arched ceiling, and the extent and number
: of its recesses and chapels crowded with
monuments and relics of the past
OF course, we shall go first to the
: Poets Corner, where so many literary men
r lie buried, and where there are so many
monuments to those who are buried else
, where Among these we shall be glad to
see the bust of our own Longfellow, the
only person not an Enslishman who has a
monument here. We shall spend hours in
} Westminster Abbey and in its chapels,
where there are so many interesting me-
nisrials and tombs of old-time kings and
queens, knights and crusaders; and then,
having made up our minds that on the very
next Sunday we will come here to church,
we shall go out of a side door into queer
little street, where, in a secluded conrer,
are some quaint little houses with the
names of "Mr. John This" and "Mr.
Thomas That" and "Mr. George the
other-things" on their front gates; and,
after walking short distance, we shall find
ourselves at the entrance to Houses of
Parliament.
1t is only on Saturdays that these great
buildings can be visited, and then we must
have permits from the Lord Chamberlain,
whose office is around a corner of the ed
ifee. We can wanderas we please through
all the public parts of the building, for
Parliament is never in session on Saturdays,
and we shall see splendid and handsome
halls and corridors, including the Queens
robing-room, with her throne on one side
of it, although she seldom or never sits
there, and the magnificent House of Lords,
with three thrones at one end Of it, which
were originally intended for the Queen, her
husband, Prince Albert, and her Oldest son,
the Prince of Wales There are many
more halls and apartments, all magniicently
fitted up and adorned with rich carvings
and paintings, making this a wonderfully
grand and imposing building. We shall
be surprised, however, when we see the
room intended for the House of Commons,
the real governing power of England. In
these immense Houses of Parliament, COW
ering eight acres, and containing eleven
hundred rooms and apartments, there is for
the House of Commons only room so
small that, when all the members are pres
ent, there is not accommodation for them
on the main floor, and many of them have
to stow themselves away in the gallery or
wherever they can find room. Adjoining
this magnificent building, and now really
a part of it, is the famous old Westminster
Hall, vast chamber capable of holding a
dozen Houses of Commons. This great
hall was built in its present form by Rich
ard H.
Here the English Parliament used to
meet, and here state trials were held.
Among the persons condemned to death in
this room were Charles l., William Wal
lace, the Scotch hero, and Guy Fawkes.
The lofty room, formed of dark oaken
beams, is very peculiar, and in construction
is one of the finest roofs of its kind in the
world.
When we leave here we shall go out on
one of the bridges across the Thames, and
get view of the river front of the Houses
of Parliament, with the great Victoria
Tower at one end, and at the other the
Clock Tower, with four clock faces, each
of which is twenty-three feet in diameter
SO that people do not have to go very close
to see what time it is. The large bell in
this tower weighs thirteen tons, and it re-
quires five hours to wind up the striking
part of the clock.
We are now in the western part of Lon
don, which is the fashionable quarter, where
the lords and ladies and the rich and grand
people live, and where the shops are finer,
the people better dressed, and where there
are more private carriages than business
wagons. Among the fine streets here are
Pail Mall pronounced PeN lNeH), where
we see on either side of the street large and
handsome buildings belonging to the Lon
don clubs; and Piccadilly, full of grand
shops, leading to the famous Hyde Park.
LONDON gentlemen consider walk down
Piccadilly one of the pleasantest things
they can do, and there are people who think
that there is not in the world street SO
attractive as this. 1t is certainly pleasant
promenade, and for great part of its
length we have on one side the beautiful |
trees and grass of Green Park, at the far
ther side of which stands Buckingham
Palace, the Queens London residence
Hyde Park, with the adjoining Kensing-
ton Gardens, is very large inclosure, with
drives, grassy lawns, and fine trees, and
with a pretty river running through it.
Near Hyde Park Corner, where we enter,
are some magnificent residences, among
which is Apsley House, belonging to the
Duke of Wellington. One of the roads in
Hyde Park is called Rotten Row, and is
devoted entirely to horseback riding.
There is nothing decayed about this Row,
and it is said that the place used to be
called Route du Roy, the Road of the King,
and it has gradually been corrupted into
Rotten Row.
There are many proper names which the
English people pronounce very differently
from the way in which they are spelled
St. John, for instance, is pronounced SINCE
on; Beauchamp is Beecham; and when they
wish to mention the name Cholmondeley,
they say Chumley, while Sevenoaks has
become Snooks.
From twelve to two o'clock we may see
Rotten Row filed with lady and gentleman
riders, trotting or galloping up and down.
But the finest sight of Hyde Park begins
about five o'clock in the afternoon, when
the carriages of the nobility and gentry fill
the long drive on the south side of the
Park. There is no place in the world where
we can see so many fine horses and car
riages, SO much aristocracy, in compare
lively small space, as in Hyde Park, be-
tween five and seven o'clock in the after